LOS ANGELES — Each morning before Cameron Brink pulls on her Sparks jersey, she scans a taped-up collage in her closet. Olympic rings, a WNBA All-Star crest, snapshots with her fiancé and a scatter of Etsy trinkets crowd the board.

The canvas is a handmade constellation of who Brink is and who she longs to be. Between magazine clippings and ...Read more

STORRS, Conn. — Dan Hurley is determined to never have a team play defense like UConn did last season again.

By KenPom ratings, last year’s team was 75th in the nation in defensive efficiency – worst since Hurley took over the Huskies in 2018-19. This year, with a roster build similar to the 2022-23 national title team, defense will be ...Read more

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The Connecticut Sun entered the fourth quarter against the Indiana Fever on Sunday with victory in their grasp. They had led by as many as 21 points in the third, and a buzzer-beater 3-pointer from rookie Leila Lacan sent them into the final period still ahead by double-digits.

But as they have so many times this season, ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The NBA dropped its schedule earlier this week, and buried in the long list of 1,230 regular-season games was a juicy nugget that should make every Orlando Magic fan sit up and start sharpening their social media barbs:

The Magic will open the 2025-26 NBA season against the Miami Heat.

Yes, you read that correctly.

The ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Alanna Smith entered the Lynx media room Saturday and assured everyone that Courtney Williams was right behind her. A couple moments later, Williams entered, walking like she had aged 30 years over her grueling 35 minutes of game action.

Williams smiled and greeted the room before exhaling and saying, “Man, we had to work for ...Read more

MIAMI — To go through the Miami Heat’s just-released 2025-26 regular-season schedule and select the most meaningful or important games is to miss the point.

When you are coming off a 37-45 season and third consecutive trip to the play-in round, every game is meaningful, every game is important. To think otherwise is to lose sight of a team ...Read more

NEW YORK —The 2025-26 NBA schedule has dropped, delivering a thrilling lineup of must-see games filled with high stakes, emotional reunions and budding rivalries.

From Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City homecoming on opening night to a star-packed Christmas Day clash between the Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers, here are 10 standout matchups to ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — First Joel Embiid, then Nick Nurse, signaled that Embiid won’t be ready for the start of the 76ers’ season after undergoing a delayed, unspecified, third surgery on the left knee that cost him most of last season.

“We don’t have a timeline,” Embiid told ESPN in a sympathy piece last month. “If I come back early ...Read more

SEATTLE — Two years ago, the Storm retired Sue Bird’s No. 10 jersey, which hangs in the Climate Pledge Arena rafters, and last year Seattle city officials renamed a Lower Queen Anne street in her honor.

And on Sunday morning, Bird will soar to even loftier legendary heights, becoming the rare sports superstar to garner a trifecta of ...Read more

Brady Pettigrew isn't a collector of sports cards or memorabilia. The Indiana Fever fan just wanted to have some fun with Sophie Cunningham, one of his favorite players.

At a fan event in Indianapolis last weekend, Pettigrew waited in line with many others to get the star WNBA guard's autograph. When his turn came, the 39-year-old resident of ...Read more

MIAMI — In a move that takes the team below the punitive NBA luxury tax, the Miami Heat have traded forward Haywood Highsmith and a 2032 second-round draft choice to the Brooklyn Nets.

With the Nets currently operating $22.5 million below the 2025-26 NBA salary cap and able to take on salary, the Heat in return received only a conditional ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas — The hallmarks of Philadelphia hoops culture are famous for a reason.

And before their time coaching the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, the Koclanes siblings lived it. Chris Koclanes is in his first year as Wings head coach, and Belle is an assistant.

Early in Belle’s career, she was an assistant coach at Penn from 2004 to 2008. ...Read more

Veronica Burton is not a flashy player. She doesn’t have a varied repertoire of ankle-breakers or fancy moves.

But the Valkyries point guard who has started all 32 of the team’s games does have a complete mastery of Golden State’s offense, a skill set she showed in the team’s 88-83 victory in Washington as the visitors secured their ...Read more

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The last time Connecticut Sun guard Bria Hartley was ejected from a game against the Los Angeles Sparks in late July, the rest of the team immediately collapsed and lost by 15 in a matchup that looked winnable most of the way.

On Wednesday the Sun proved how far they’ve come in just a few weeks with a 71-62 win over the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Shaquille O'Neal was never suspended for drug use of any kind during his decorated 19-year NBA career. The rugged 7-foot-1, 325-pound Hall of Fame center freely acknowledged playing through pain and openly worried about damage to his kidneys and liver from his prolonged use of legal anti-inflammatory medications.

He also ...Read more

DENVER — Drake Solomon, who performed as Rocky, the Denver Nuggets mascot, is suing the franchise’s parent company for alleged wrongful termination and disability-based discrimination.

Solomon took over as Rocky when his father, Kenn Solomon, retired in 2021. He alleges in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) ...Read more

CHICAGO — Angel Reese will miss a sixth consecutive game Wednesday night for the Chicago Sky — and the All-Star forward is still struggling to return to the court after suffering a lower back injury that could put the remainder of her season in jeopardy.

Reese has not been cleared for basketball activities. She did not travel for the road ...Read more